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“It all started in Bath,” she explained. “I’ve been part of the anti-slavery partnership working with different agencies, including immigration, the council and the charity Unseen for a number of years.

“We ran a day of action in Bath back in February 2016 and one of the properties that we went into, one of the nail bars, was Nail Deluxe on Westgate Street.

Thu Huong Nguyen, 48, of Southdown Road, Bath

“We found two vulnerable people who were working for the nail bar owner Thu Huong Nguyen, known as Jenny, and she was one of the defendants in this case.

“The specific reason we went into that nail bar was because we had intelligence and we had a history knowing that Jenny in the past had other vulnerable, young Vietnamese women working for her and living with her in her accommodation.”

DI Tucker said one of the main difficulties in modern slavery cases is that the victims often do not see themselves as victims.

“One of the massive challenges with this type of case is that they don’t necessarily see themselves as victims. They are condition to feel reliant on those controlling them.

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“We have to try and make them see themselves as victims, but when Jenny was there she would say to them: ‘Did you stick to the script?’

She added: “The [living] conditions weren’t horrendous, they were living in her house – one was living in a box room and one on a mattress on the floor in the loft.

“They were unsuitable living conditions, but with modern slavery that’s what we need to get into our minds – there’s not necessarily visible chains and it’s not horrendous conditions for all these victims.

“But it’s still so wrong to be perpetuating someone’s business model by forcing people to work for nothing and, in this case, where people are too young to be working in that environment.”

£60,000 in cash was found concealed inside a stuffed teddy bear (Image: Avon and Somerset police)

DI Tucker revealed that officers found a teddy bear stuffed with £60,000 in £10 notes during a search of Nguyen’s address.

The scale of the investigation soon expanded as Avon and Somerset police worked closely with Staffordshire Police to unravel the human trafficking operation.

It ultimately involved five police forces and the National Crime Agency.

“This was a massive national, possibly international, case and the operation expanded rapidly once the scale of the trafficking operation became clear,” said DI Tucker.

“It’s a very complex investigation and it’s all around us, with victims being handled in plain sight.

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“One of the key messages we would like to get across is for the public to be conscious of the people they are getting work done from.

“If they think the workers look vulnerable or frightened of the people they are working for then get in touch and we can run another day of action to see if they are victims.

“One of the real difficulties is how vulnerable and isolated the victims are. They are often young and concerned that something bad will happen to their family.”

In the hours after police arrested Thu Huong Nguyen in Bath, officers could be seen carrying out searches of Nail Deluxe in Westgate Street - which is now under new management (Image: Artur Lesniak/Trinity Mirror)

This is the UK’s first successful prosecution for exploitation and enforced child labour under the 2015 Modern Slavery Act.

DI Tucker said it is important for the public to be aware of the signs of modern slavery, including the prices for services and whether they are being paid for by cash-in-hand.

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“It’s important to raise awareness as Bath is hugely historic and people from all over the world come to the city, but this is happening right under our noses,” she added.

“This is really sad and we are working hard with other agencies, including immigration, the council and the charity Unseen, to try and tackle the problem.”

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